On 28 Sep 2001, at 18:44, ANDY wrote: >Hi Listers, > > one of my friends suggested to me that I buy more memory with the little >extra money I have... > > but I am afraid to/don't know how > > I am alone here with these 3 computers so if I open them up I am on my >own with only you listers to help me out > > I *have* some URLs for "old new spare parts" that were posted to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] in Dec. 2000 > > but I need some help knowing what to buy and maybe some additional URLs > > I need to know what kind of memory chips? will fit my two computers... I >don't want to open them up/open their cases just yet _ ideally I could >order the memory and plug it right in the first time > >here is what I have: an American Megatrends Trident Quadtel AT clone 386 >DX with 8meg of RAM > > an IBM PS/2 Model 55 386 SX with 4meg of RAM > >I might as well buy a math-co-processor 387 chip and an ISA bus? network >card/adapter for the DX (the SX's doc said a network card was already >installed) while I am buying memory > >can anyone advise me of the **exact* type/model** of memory chips?/boards? >that will fit these two computers?? and maybe a URL where I can go to >order them?? > >Thank-You for any assistance on this > >Andy
Dear Andy, Well, the first question to ask is: "Is there any benefit from purchasing more memory?" You need to look at the applications and operating system that you run, and determine from that whether more memory will benefit you. If you only run DOS, and only run a wordprocessor to create one-page letters, then more memory won't help. If you are running Windows 95, then additional memory will certainly help. If you could list the programs and operating systems you use, I'm sure that we, the members of this list, can help you answer this question. In order to answer the question of what memory to purchase, if it will make sense to add some, you'll need to consult the manual for your systems. If you don't have a copy, you should be able to find the one for the IBM system at IBM's WWW site - they're very good about keeping on-line manuals around for a long time. The other one, if you don't have a printed copy, will likely be impossible to find. So, you'll need to open the case, and describe what you see inside. Most likely, for the 386DX system, you'll see either four or eight slots for memory to fit into. From the amount you have (8MB), and the vintage of the system, I'm going to say you most likely have eight 1MB 30-pin SIMMs. If so, these will fill all of the slots. You'll probably have to purchase 4MB SIMMs to replace them - four would give you 16MB, or you could purchase eight to go all the way up to 32MB. You'll need to purchase & install the 30-pin SIMMs in groups of four. A network card would have to be ISA-compatible for the 386 DX system, and just about any network card, so long as you can get drivers, should do. A used ISA network card should go for no more than $10 in a local store. If you're thinking about setting up a network, you'll need to choose 10Base-2 (co-axial connector) or 10Base-T (looks like wide telephone connectors), and purchase the appropriate cabling and possibly a hub to go with it. I won't go into further detail here, as there are a number of WWW resources on networking, as well as the archives of this list. The PS/2 system may have a network interface built in; some IBM systems did. If not, then it'll require a network card, too, either ISA or Microchannel - you'll need to consult the manual for it, to see which of the two that particular model can use. Hope this helps, Anthony J. Albert =========================================================== Anthony J. Albert [EMAIL PROTECTED] Systems and Software Support Specialist Postmaster Computer Services - University of Maine, Presque Isle "Civilization is just a slow process of learning to be kind." - Charles L. Lucas To unsubscribe from SURVPC send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe SURVPC in the body of the message. Also, trim this footer from any quoted replies. More info can be found at; http://www.softcon.com/archives/SURVPC.html
